The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 85
The Imperial Palace Physician rushed to the Crown Prince’s Office and examined Kiaros.
“There is nothing wrong with you from head to toe.”
The Imperial Palace Physician was an expert who had devoted himself to studying the Dragonkin alone. He was also one of the few confidants who knew that Kiaros was in his second Dark Period.
“That can’t be right.”
Kiaros furrowed his brow as he spoke.
“My head is spinning, my stomach is churning, my heart won’t stop racing, and my blood feels like it’s boiling. Suddenly I want to destroy everything, and at the same time I want to throw a tantrum and stamp my feet. This suffocating feeling, this uncontrollable rage—I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
“Hmm.”
The Imperial Palace Physician listened intently to Kiaros’s words, then spoke immediately.
“I know the diagnosis. It’s jealousy.”
“What?”
“His Majesty the Emperor described such symptoms for fifteen years. They disappeared completely after he married Her Majesty the Empress. This kind of uncontrollable manifestation of power stabilizes like magic once a mate and one’s heart are in harmony.”
Kiaros’s jaw dropped.
“Before that, whenever Her Majesty the Empress would laugh and mingle with the male knights in the Knight Order, His Majesty would fly to the Outskirts and destroy hillsides one after another.”
The Imperial Palace Physician spoke in a grave tone.
“It’s truly fortunate that you’re in a Dark Period. Your symptoms are already quite severe—if you weren’t in a Dark Period, you would have uprooted several pillars of the Imperial Palace by now.”
“Jealousy alone causes that? Does that even make sense?”
“The Dragonkin do not naturally love anyone. They are indifferent to all and reign supreme, are they not? That is why most of them enter into political marriages.”
That was true.
That was why the previous Imperial Family could not understand when the current Emperor refused a political marriage. They could not empathize with the very concept of loving another person.
“However, if a Dragonkin does love someone, that love is achieved far too easily.”
Ordinary humans revered the Dragonkin, so that too was accurate.
Fron had refused the Emperor for so long out of consideration and loyalty to Kiaros, not because she disliked the Emperor.
“But when it doesn’t work out as expected, it becomes difficult to control emotions you’ve never experienced before.”
The Physician finished speaking and examined Kiaros once more.
“The person in question is Namia Loapi, correct?”
I couldn’t deny it. As I fell silent, the Physician sighed with a pitying expression.
“Even after such a long seclusion… your heart remains unresolved, it seems.”
No, I had only recently become aware of my feelings, yet the entire Imperial Palace already knew who they were directed toward.
Of all things, I had fallen for the very person I had pretended to be heartbroken over in order to hide my Dark Period….
“For the sake of the Empire’s peace, I urge you to make one more earnest attempt at seduction. Why are you wasting that face and body locked away in here?”
The Imperial Palace Physician offered his advice with a serious expression.
“Or perhaps you lack confidence in seduction? I’ve heard there’s a hidden love expert in the Scroll Department who is proficient in all manner of romance literature. Shall I inquire and ask them for a diagnosis and method?”
I had a feeling I knew who that hidden expert was. Kiaros waved his hand dismissively.
“No, just tell them to keep hiding.”
“Well… I shall summon them whenever you need. In any case, be careful.”
The Imperial Palace Physician packed his medical bag and offered his counsel.
“If jealousy clouds your judgment, even in a Dark Period with sealed aura and magical power, abnormal strength can manifest.”
“Really? Then isn’t that a good thing?”
Kiaros, frustrated by his inability to use supernatural power, asked with interest. The Imperial Palace Physician shook his head firmly.
“No, it’s an abnormal manifestation, so aftereffects are inevitable. If you don’t want to suffer for a few days, be extremely careful.”
“Hmm.”
“Especially if you’re attending the Saint Cairo Banquet coming up soon, I’d advise you not to create any opportunities for Namia to be alone with another man. If you destroy the Banquet Hall while destroying your own health in the process….”
“Understood.”
Kiaros answered readily.
“So the only thing I need to be careful about is jealousy?”
“Ah, try not to get too excited. That could be even more dangerous.”
“Excited? What are you talking about?”
“Well… never mind. That should be fine. It’s not as if Namia would touch the Crown Prince up close without even having a mutual understanding….”
The Imperial Palace Physician trailed off as if it were nothing, then bowed respectfully and left.
* * *
Deep within a massive building in the Southern Region.
Tap, tap, tap.
As the sound of footsteps echoed, the man confined behind iron bars snapped his eyes open.
“…You!”
The moment he tried to rise, shackles clanked and tightened around his limbs.
The muscular middle-aged man fell ungracefully.
At the same time, the footsteps stopped before the iron bars.
“Still no learning capacity. I told you—you cannot control your own body anymore.”
A woman who had slowly approached the iron bars spoke with mockery.
The man breathed heavily, looking up at her.
The woman’s face was hidden behind an ornate mask. She folded her arms and asked coldly.
“Have you thought about the proposal from last time?”
The man immediately shook his head.
“I told you. I won’t do it.”
“It’s an experiment that’s already succeeded in other ways. It’s not dangerous. Once this experiment is over, you can be free. I promise you that with my authority.”
“That won’t work. Let me repay through a different experiment instead. But I can’t let you touch my memories.”
The woman clicked her tongue and stared at the man intently.
“You still can’t do the math. You’re already not the same person you were before. So why can’t I touch your memories?”
“…I made a promise. To my daughter, Namia.”
The man spoke in a hoarse voice.
“I promised her to wait, that I would definitely return. I have to keep that promise.”
The woman looked down at the man silently.
The man’s name was Cedric Loapi.
Fifteen years ago, when he first came here, Cedric had been a slender, scholarly-looking young man with a pallid complexion.
But now, no trace of that pristine appearance remained. It was due to the physical modification experiments that had been conducted on him all this time.
His once-pale skin had darkened, and massive muscles covered his entire body.
Yet his shimmering silver hair and lake-like blue eyes remained unchanged.
“A parent must keep their promises. A parent is the first world a child encounters, and one can only trust the world by trusting one’s parents. Trust is extremely important in human society, and the reason is….”
He still spouted old-fashioned wisdom whenever he opened his mouth.
The woman cut him off with an expression of utter exasperation.
“Look, just shut up for a second. I’m saying no, so that’s final, right?”
“No, I won’t do it.”
Cedric answered without hesitation.
“If I lose my memories, even if I gain freedom, I won’t remember that I need to find our Namia….”
“You’re going to forget everything anyway, so what does it matter?”
“Of course it doesn’t matter to me.”
A melancholy laugh began to seep into Cedric’s voice.
“I… myself, truthfully, stopped caring long ago. What I’m worried about is Namia. Our Namia, who waits for me every single day, consumed with worry.”
“….”
“But if you really insist on taking me and conducting memory-related experiments, there is one way.”
“…What is it.”
“Tell Namia the exact circumstances.”
The man, now possessing a body like a human weapon, continued speaking quietly.
“Tell her that I walked into the Gaejo Faction of my own accord and sold myself as an experimental subject, that this vile organization wasn’t satisfied after fifteen years of experiments and now wants to tamper with my memories too. Tell her that whether I’m trapped here forever or lose my memories, the result is the same—I won’t be able to see Namia—so I’ve chosen the latter. Ask for her understanding….”
“Hey.”
The woman flared up indignantly.
“Think about it logically. How could that possibly work?”
“It won’t work? Then I won’t do it either. I’ll just wait for this vile criminal organization to collapse.”
“We’re not going to collapse!”
The woman shrieked. Then she added with a huff.
“Those restraints must cause you agony every day. Don’t you want to be free?”
At those words, Cedric lowered his eyes.
After several rounds of experiments, he had gained superhuman strength.
Paradoxically, as the experimental subject’s power grew, the organization began to fear him. So they fitted him with multiple restraints. Simply wearing the restraints caused his body constant pain.
“It’s fine, I can endure it.”
Cedric spoke without revealing that pain.
“I can bear even worse than this.”
“What good is a promise to come back? And fifteen years have already passed.”
“I told you before. It seems you don’t understand from just one explanation, so let me explain again. Parents are the first world a child encounters, and trust with one’s parents ultimately….”
His tone remained gentle even as he explained.
The woman grimaced and turned away.
“Fine, let me know if you change your mind. I’m leaving.”
“…You.”
And as Cedric stopped his explanation, he spoke quietly toward her retreating figure.
“Why do you want so badly to tamper with my memories?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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